1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vehicle control system and method that employs information available on a data network external to the vehicle, in conjunction with a geographic database and a system for determining the position and velocity of the vehicle to activate countermeasures to long-term and transient hazards that the control system determines the vehicle is likely to encounter.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,587,573 discloses a system and method of automatically controlling vehicle lights on the basis of an image sensor on-board the vehicle. The system does not use an external data network to determine how to control vehicle lights, except to dim them on residential streets. The system has the capacity to respond to external conditions, but not to anticipate events outside sensor range.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,602 discloses a control system for a vehicle that uses a position determining system and a database to determine when the vehicle is entering and exiting from tunnels to automatically control climate control and other systems. The system mitigates the risk of known, long-term environmental and visibility hazards in the form of covered roads. U.S. Pat. No. 6,411,894 controls vehicle climate control and other systems in response to the correlation of a vehicle's position and velocity with information stored within a database. Both patents relate to long-term hazards posed by tunnels or otherwise covered roads.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,147 discloses a GPS-based control system that triggers events based on the position of a vehicle, including tunnel mode. The system activates controls on the basis of simple boolean logic, does not specify a means of automatically populating a geographical database of hazards and specifies the triggering of actions based upon the entry of a vehicle into a specific location.
Vehicles are increasingly equipped with information systems that are often closely integrated with more conventional systems, including climate control, audio, cruise control, braking, and lighting. The inventions referred to above allow for mitigation of hazards by employing on-board sensors or a static database of long-term hazards. Data networks such as the Internet, cellular telephone networks, proprietary networks such as OnStar, public networks for emergency services, local WiFi networks, and DSRC networks increasingly contain location-specific information regarding long-term and transient hazards potentially endangering the occupants of vehicles. Ideally, a hazard countermeasure system would access a plurality of data sources and types to appropriately activate a plurality of vehicle systems at times more appropriate than on-board sensors could achieve and in situations that could not be detected by on-board sensors to mitigate the risks of both long-term and transient hazards.